8am: The Taliban forces faced a military response from the Turkmen border forces when they went to the border of Khamab district to check the security situation this morning. For the past month, Turkmenistan has been the third neighboring country to be attacked by Taliban forces. Click here to read more (external link).
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 2, 2021 Building a natural-gas pipeline through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India (TAPI) was the main topic of conversation when Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov went to Kabul to meet with the Taliban’s interim government on October 30-31. Since coming to power 15 years ago, Turkmen President Gurbanguly
8am: Taliban spokesperson Bilal Karimi by posting photos on Twitter has said that the practical work of the air corridor between China and Afghanistan formally started today on Sunday, (October 31). Today evening, the first cargo of pine nuts was sent through the air corridor to China. Click here to read more (external link). More
Navbahor Imamova VOA News October 29, 2021 TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN — Central Asian republics are stepping up their diplomatic activity in the face of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, seeking to balance fears of increased extremist activity in the region against the risk of an economic collapse that could send refugees flooding across their borders. Three of
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty October 9, 2021 Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov just visited Uzbekistan for talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev and, even though the two leaders have met several times recently, it was important for them — and only them — to sit down to discuss the number one topic in the
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 18, 2021 The events that the governments of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have been increasingly dreading in recent weeks have begun to happen. The Afghan government has fallen to the Taliban and despite the Central Asian governments having had years to contemplate and plan for such an occurrence,
RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service July 11, 2021 Turkmenistan has begun moving heavy weaponry, helicopters, and other aircraft closer to its border with Afghanistan, and reservists are being put on alert in the capital, a further sign of the worry spreading across Central Asia as Taliban fighters continue major offensives. A senior official at a Turkmen security
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 25, 2021 By Bruce Pannier For any Central Asia governments that thought they had time to consider their policies toward Afghanistan while the last foreign troops are withdrawing from the country, the clock already seems to have run out. Few could have foreseen the rapid advances Taliban fighters have made in
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 24, 2021 Some recent media reports suggest the U.S. military will seek to reposition some of its troops in Central Asia after its big decision to withdraw from Afghanistan after nearly two decades in the country. The New York Times reported on April 15 that U.S. officials had been